HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Roots of the Euless Nursery (A Century-Old Cannon Family Heritage)41
EULESS PUBLIC LMRA'RY
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The Roots of the Euless Nursery
A Century -Old Cannon Family Heritage
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On August 5, 1897, Arch N. Cannon purchased 100 acres of sandy land in
Euless, Texas, for $1,200. He paid $500 cash and assumed a $700 note. Acquisition
of this property planted an important seed that would help the Dallas -Fort Worth area
blossom for decades. Along the way, the business that grew up on this sandy land
contributed to the development of Euless and assured the future of the Cannon
family.
Arch bought the land from Thomas Edward "Ed" Trigg (nicknamed 'Bully") and
his wife, Emma Trigg, who in 1892 had purchased it from his father, Daniel C. Trigg
Sr. In his loan application Ed Trigg described his new 100 acre farm, which was
worth about $20 an acre. Three -fourths of it was under cultivation and a quarter was
in pasture. Only three acres were unfit for cultivation. Seventy-eight acres were
fenced, rail on three sides and wire on the other. A log house with a rock chimney,
valued at $100, stood on the property. In the back yard were a well and a cellar. A
tenant lived on the land, paying $200 rent per year. An examiner for the loan
company described the property as a "nice little farm ..., under a good state of
cultivation and ... excellent security for the loan."
The farm was situated in a narrow strip of sandy and red clay land in eastern
Tarrant County, known as the Lower or Eastern Cross Timbers, that was wedged
between the Blackland Prairie on the east and the Grand Prairie, also black land soil,
on the west. Oak, elm and other trees originally covered the region, as well as thick
brush that often made passage nearly impossible. To complicate matters, trees and
impenetrable brush had to be cut before crops could be cultivated, and all manner of
wild beasts took refuge in the thickets. In the 1890s, much of the Cross Timbers still
retained these characteristics. Hence, residents of the rich prairie lands traditionally
felt sorry for people who lived on the poor, thin, sandy soil of the Cross Timbers.
By 1897, when Arch and his wife, Della Whitener Cannon, purchased their new
farm, they had lived at several places around Euless since their marriage in 1891.
The Cannons immediately moved to the log house, which stood on a hill at what is
today the northwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Euless. 'A dirt
road ran .in a north -south direction by the cabin and eventually connected with present
Huffman Drive on the north. Moving to the modest log cabin with them were their four
children -- Monnie, Roy, Eula and Ross. Monnie, who lived in the log house betwben
the ages of five and eight, remembered it vividly: Through the middle of the cabin,
between the two rooms was a dog -run or breezeway. There were two beds in one
room and two more in a roomy attic. Narrow stairs in the corner of one room led up
to the attic. The second room, the kitchen, was equipped with a wood -burning stove,
EULESS PUBLr, EORNRY
Euless Nursery / Page 2
a table and a safe or wooden cabinet for dishes. A sheet hung in a corner of the
kitchen to provide privacy for a hired hand's bed.
Soon after moving to their new property, Arch changed the course of life for his
family. Cotton was king in much of Texas, including this region of North Texas. Had
Arch decided to make his living by growing cotton, he would have been in good
company with most of his neighbors. But this is where fate and neighborly advice
altered the course of the Cannon family.
The Cannons' nearest neighbor was Dr. A. H. Boyd, a farmer and physician.
Dr. Boyd, a local political leader, who was also active in his church, owned much real
estate in the Euless area. Boyd Branch, flowing through part of his farm, was named
for him. He owned the adjoining farm on the west, which had orchards of peaches,
plums and pears. His family lived in a fine, two-story, wood -frame house.
Several accounts explain how Dr. Boyd influenced Arch Cannon to enter the
nursery business, differing only slightly in details. This is the basic outline of the story:
Dr. Boyd gave Cannon four pear trees and showed him how to tend an orchard. The
older and wiser neighbor suggested that this was a better way of making a living than
growing cotton or investing in stock schemes, such as gold mining, which were very
popular at the time. Arch also planted a field of dewberry vines and a peach orchard.
He became an expert in growing dewberries, peaches and pears, which he readily
marketed in nearby Fort Worth and Dallas.
Cannon gradually expanded his variety of stock, soon adding grape vines and
fig bushes, plus plum and apple trees. These crops had a double blessing because
he could sell not only the fruit, but also the trees, bushes and vines. Next, he began
growing roses -- for which he became especially well known -- and non -fruiting trees
and plants, such as sycamore, chinaberry and crape myrtle. Finally, about 1920, be
began growing evergreen shrubs, such as Baker Arborvitae, cedars and junipers.
Roses and dewberries, however, remained the mainstay of his business, which by the
1920s had become known as Euless Nurseries.
The Cannons prospered remarkably well in the Cross Timbers. In fact, the
nursery business would have been impossible in the dense Blackland Prairie soil,
which was sticky when wet and hard or crumbly when dry. The sandy land was
perfectly suited to growing, cultivating and digging nursery stock. The Cross Timbers
of eastern Tarrant county became a very popular area for nurseries. Andy Felps,
Arch's brother-in-law, had a large nursery at Bransford (now Colleyville).
Arch soon paid for his farm. In 1900 he built a big house in a grove of oak and
elm trees near the northeast corner of his property. It faced east on present South
Main Street. He built a barn, enclosed ten acres in hog wire and still had money in
the bank. In 1907 he purchased another farm, 128 acres, one and a one-half miles to
the east, for $1,500 cash and $1,600 in notes. In the 1950s it became part of the Fort
Worth municipal airport. Today it is the site of AMR (American Airlines) corporate
headquarters.
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Dr. Boyd's influence was also evident in construction of the new Cannon
house, which was modeled after the Boyd home. Arch studied it carefully, measured
it and copied it almost exactly, with two exceptions. He included a dining room
between the kitchen and the remainder of his new L-shaped house. He also left the
large attic unfinished, without upstairs bedrooms which graced the Boyd house. It
had the usual necessities -- hand -dug well in the backyard, cellar near the back door
and outdoor toilet farther out back. After 1916, at Della's urging, Arch finally finished
part of the attic and added a large dormered room over the front porch.
Life for the Cannons was challenging. Added to their family of four children
under age eight were twins, Lloyd and Lois, who were born in March 1900 in the log
cabin. While the new house was under construction in the summer, Arch fell ill for six
weeks with typhoid fever. Nevertheless, with great difficulty, Della held the family and
the farm together. Arch recovered, the house was finished, and in August they moved
to their new residence. The last child, Jessie, was born there in 1904.
The entire family including the children worked very hard, and they prospered.
Arch also employed hired hands who lived on the place. While most of his neighbors
rode in wagons, the Cannon family traveled in a surrey. He delighted in having
visitors. The dining table always included someone besides immediate family --
another relative or perhaps a neighbor. Many times, these visitors were invited to
spend the night. School teachers often stayed there, and drummers (salesmen) were
always welcome. Della graciously provided for everyone.
Arch belonged to professional organizations such as the Southwestern
Association of Nurserymen and regularly attended meetings. He and Andy Felps
appeared in a picture of nurserymen at a convention of the Southwestern Association
in September 1930 at the Baker Hotel in Dallas.
Arch Cannon was best known for his cultivation of roses, gaining distinction as
the "Rose Man of Euless." He shipped thousands of rose bushes each year to parts
of Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. He never sold the blossoms, but rather gave
them away to hospitals in Fort Worth and Dallas and for funerals and weddings in
Euless. In 1913 a new Euless School was built across the road from the Cannon
house. Arch invited school children to stop and gather roses for their teachers: He
also delighted in having "rose parties" at his house. He invited neighbors to his home,
filled tubs with roses and gave the blossoms to his guests to take home. But while
they were there, everyone gathered around the piano to sing.
The Euless Nursery lasted for about 60 years, probably longer than any other
business in the history of Euless. It brought prosperity to the Cannon family, furnished
fruit and flowers for the enjoyment of many people and spread the name of Euless
throughout the Southwest. Along the way, the Euless Nursery flowered for many
years through the enterprising efforts of Arch and Della Cannon and their children.
Euless Nursery / Page 4
SNENSENS
The story must stop here for now. Perhaps it can be expanded into a historical
narrative that will be the basis for a Texas Historical Commission Marker for the site of
the Euless Nursery. It is based mainly on three sources. One is a collection of
original documents about the 100-acre farm, dating as far back as 1873, now in my
possession. Another is a series of interviews with several people, especially Monnie
Cannon Borah and Roy Cannon. The other is a collection of newspaper articles about
the Cannon family, especially one in the Fort Worth Star -Telegram in 1932 describing
Arch Cannon as the "Rose Man of Euless."
Weldon Green Cannon
702 West Nugent Avenue
Temple, TX 76501
(254) 778-6068